Clothesline-clamp



W. A. JOHNSON.

CLOTHESLINE CLAMP. APPLICATION FILED MMLZ, 1920. 7

1,368,805; Patented Feb. 15,1921.

l/I/ITA/EbWlg INVENTOR ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES FAIENI' @FWQE.

CLOTHESLINE-GLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 15, 192}.

Application filed March 2, 1920. Serial No. 362,829.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM AUSTIN J oHNsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Fairmont, in the county of Marion and State of West Virginia, have 1nvented certain new and useful Improvements in Clothesline-Clamps, of Wl1lCl1 the following is a specification.

My invention relates to clamps for securely supporting the clothes lines on a pole or prop, and the purpose of my invention is the provision of a simple, inexpensive and efiicient clamp which will effect a locking of the clothes line to the prop so that accidental displacement of the line is positively pre vented.

I will describe one form of clamp embodying my invention and will then point out the novel features thereof in claim.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a view showing in side elevation one form of clamp embodying my invention in applied position upon a prop.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the clamp shown in Fig. 1. Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the views.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the clamp consists of a single length of re silient wire having a substantially circular intermediate portion 15 bent upon itself at one end to provide an eye 16. The opposlte end of the circular portion 15 is bent inwardly then looped and bent outwardly and downwardly to provide a hook 17 the wire being extended from the hook downwardly as at 18, twisted about the circular portion as at 19, and then extended radially from such circular portion to provide a shank 20. The shank 20 is threaded at its lower end as at 21 for engagement with the end of the prop 22 whereby the shank supports the clamp as a unit in position upon the prop.

In the releasing position of the clamp as shown in dash lines in Fig. 1, the eye 16 00 copies a spaced position with relation to the hook 17 under the resilient action of the wire of which the circular portion 15 is formed, and through this space the clothes line is inserted into the circular portion of the clamp. After the clothes line has been inserted in this manner, the eye 16 is forced downwardly and over the hook l7 and retained in this position under the tendency of the wire to return the eye to its normal position. As shown in Fig. 1, the hook 17 is slightly lnclined downwardly so as to prevent accidental displacement of the eye from the hook. In this manner the clothes line is locked within the clamp and the only way in which the line can be removed from the clamp is by manually removing the eye 16 from the hook 17.

In devices of this characterjheretofore proposed they merely provide some form of clasp for temporarily retaining the line upon the prop so that when suflicient pull is exexerted upon the prop or clothes line, a separation of the two is effected. In my invention the clamp positively locks the clothes line to the prop and such accidental separa tion of the two is positively prevented.

Although I have herein shown and described only one form of clothes line clamp embodying my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

What I claim is A clothes line clamp for props comprising, a single length of resilient wire having a substantially circular intermediate portion, one end of said portion being bent to provide an eye, the opposite end of said por tion being bent inwardly and then outwardly to provide a hook, the hook end of the wire being bent back upon itself and extended and twisted about the circular portion and then extended radially therefrom to provide a shank.

WILLIAM AUSTIN JOHNSON. 

